VKV 100 Years 2025
It is quite amazing, but I was born into a family where almost everything revolved around kayaks, and only much later did I understand what kind of cultural heritage I have had the privilege to help carry forward.
Roots in the archipelago
Our roots are in the archipelago, where life could at times be tough – farming, fishing and handicrafts. Being able to think freely and independently, and to find your own solutions to this and that, was a necessity for survival. Anker, who founded VKV in 1925, was a true master of that mindset.
My own perspective
You can read more about our history on the website, through my father Ingvar's words and perspective. But I also have my own angle to add. For me, the ability to tinker and fine-tune kayaks for friends and acquaintances – according to their needs and preferences – and then see the grin on their faces when the kayak touches the water, is a fantastic experience. It is deeply satisfying, especially when I get to paddle together with like-minded people who also see the value of "freedom with personal responsibility", which is hardly better embodied than in a kayak. It truly is a blessing to experience.
The same workshop, the same waters
Of course, we have moved on from a fourteen-year-old's dreams in a small woodworking shop, when horse and cart were the means of transport, to customers all over the world and computers with AI. Yet I still stand in the same workshop, with the same tools on the wall, and I paddle the same waters my grandfather travelled. I sit on the same rocks as my great-grandfather, and his father and grandfather before him, and I enjoy the same landscape and the same sense of freedom carried on the smell of seaweed. Eternity and the present moment melt together into a sense of timelessness that we can all share.
Four generations at the yard
Every generation has left its mark on the kayaks we build, and life itself is an ongoing process. As Ecclesiastes says, "there is nothing new under the sun". As I write this, I share workplace and passion with both my father and my daughter, while three children run around in the shavings. In other words: four generations are working in the same space – a dizzying thought when my father is 86 and Vilja has just turned one.
Looking towards the 2025 jubilee
I do not know exactly what the future will bring, but it may be wise to pause for a moment and reflect. Together with all friends and family we have become quite a large group, with VKV as a common hub. It would be wonderful to find a way to gather and celebrate together in 2025, and I am thinking that late August might be a good time – my father also has his birthday then. I will return with the details, but until then we can already allow ourselves a bit of joy in advance. Even though I am not really a person for jubilees and rituals, it may be time to find an excuse for a pleasant VKV gathering where we can enjoy each other – and our kayaks.
Kåre Ankervik